Borderless pollution chokes Greater Jakarta as policy gaps persist
Greater Jakarta is facing severe air pollution, with a new study indicating that 38% of pollutants originate from surrounding suburbs. Experts are calling for a unified regional air quality framework to address the health and economic impacts of the smog.
Why it matters
Urban air pollution is a critical public health crisis in Southeast Asia, requiring cross-jurisdictional policy cooperation to mitigate economic and health costs.
JAKARTA: As urban air pollution continues to travel across Greater Jakarta, threatening public health and burdening the economy, authorities in the region are facing greater pressure to establish an integrated framework to tackle mounting borderless pollutants.
Greater Jakarta has long been plagued by severe smog that forces its 42 million residents to breathe unhealthy air almost every day.
On Sunday afternoon, the level of microscopic toxic particles known as PM2.5 reached around 66 micrograms per cubic meter (µg/m3) in Jakarta, according to data from Swiss-based air quality monitoring company IQAir.
The PM2 level was around 13 times higher than the safety limit set by the World Health Organization (WHO). But a new study led by air quality management professor Puji Lestari of Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB) has recorded a large share of additional pollutants entering the capital from its suburbs, making pollution an interconnected problem across the region.
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